Stepin Fetchit-Chubby Johnson in Bend of the River

''Bend of the River'' is a 1952 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. Mann initially started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where ...

and starring

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality ...

Arthur Kennedy John Arthur Kennedy (February 17, 1914January 5, 1990) was an American stage and film actor known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage", especially in the origi ...

Julie Adams Julie Adams (born Betty May Adams; October 17, 1926 – February 3, 2019) was an American actress, billed as Julia Adams toward the beginning of her career, primarily known for her numerous television guest roles. She starred in a number of ...

, and

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Gold ...

. Based on the 1950 novel ''Bend of the Snake'' by

Bill Gulick Grover C. "Bill" Gulick (February 22, 1916 – October 25, 2013 ) was an American writer and historian from Walla Walla, Washington.Roadside History of Oregon, Gulick, Bill, 9780878422524, Mountain Press Publishing, 1991 Early life Gulick was bo ...

, the film is about a tough cowboy who risks his life to deliver confiscated supplies to homesteaders after gold is discovered in the region. ''Bend of the River'' was filmed on location in Sandy River,

Mount Hood Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about east-southeast of Portl ...

, the Columbia River and Timberline, Oregon. This is the second Western film collaboration between Anthony Mann and James Stewart.

Plot

In 1866, remorseful former border raider Glyn McLyntock is scouting for a wagon train of settlers to Oregon. While he is checking the trail ahead, he rescues Emerson Cole from being

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

for stealing a horse. Cole, who says the horse is "not exactly stolen", thinks he has heard of McLyntock, but does not pursue the subject. One of the pioneers in the wagon train is the eligible Laura Baile. That night, they are attacked by five Shoshone Indians and Laura is wounded by an arrow. McLyntock and Cole go out to deal with the Shoshones and Cole saves McLyntock's life in the process. McLyntock welcomes Cole, but Jeremy Baile, the leader of the settlers, does not trust Cole and does not believe that a man can change from bad to good. When they reach

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...

, Laura remains there to recover. Cole also leaves the party saying that he wants to go to California to find gold. The rest, including McLyntock, go on to establish a settlement in the wilderness after making arrangements with a man named Tom Hendricks for the supplies they need for the winter to be sent on later ("the first week in September"). That night, they have a big party and meet a professional gambler named Trey Wilson. With winter fast approaching and the supplies at least six weeks late, they begin to worry when the food runs low. McLyntock and Jeremy go back to Portland to investigate. They find that a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

has inflated prices enormously. Laura and Cole are working for Hendricks and have no intention of going to the settlement. Jeremy is not happy about his daughter being Cole's girl. Meanwhile, Hendricks has decided to sell their supplies for a much higher price to a mining camp. McLyntock secretly hires some men to load the supplies to take back to the settlement, but Hendricks finds out, instigating a shootout. Cole and Trey both side with McLyntock. When they are pursued, McLyntock sets up an ambush. Hendricks and some of his gang are killed, and the rest are driven off. On the way to the settlement, some of the miners show up and offer an exorbitant sum for the supplies. The hired men begin thinking about commandeering the wagon train. Cole cannot resist the temptation of all that money and double-crosses his friend, but does not kill him. That proves to be a fatal mistake. McLyntock tracks them down and retakes the supplies with the assistance of Jeremy, Laura, and Trey. Cole brings some miners, but they are beaten off in a climactic gunfight at a river. McLyntock fights and kills Cole, and the current takes his body away. At the end, they reach the settlement with the supplies and it is apparent that Laura and McLyntock are now a couple.

Cast

as Glyn McLyntock *

as Emerson Cole *

as Laura Baile *

as Trey Wilson, a professional gambler *

Lori Nelson Dixie Kay Nelson (August 15, 1933August 23, 2020), known professionally as Lori Nelson, was an American actress and model mostly active in the 1950s and early 1960s. She had roles in the TV series ''How to Marry a Millionaire (TV series), How to ...

as Marjie Baile * Jay C. Flippen as Jeremy Baile * Howard Petrie as Tom Hendricks *

Chubby Johnson Charles Randolph "Chubby" Johnson (August 13, 1903 – October 31, 1974) was an American film and television supporting character actor with a genial demeanor and warm, country-accented voice. Early years Johnson was the son of entertaine ...

as Captain Mello *

Stepin Fetchit Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry (May 30, 1902 – November 19, 1985), better known by the stage name Stepin Fetchit, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, considered to be the first black a ...

as Adam, Mello's assistant *

Harry Morgan Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both ''December Bride'' (1954–1959 ...

as Shorty, one of the treacherous hired men * Jack Lambert as Red, another hired hand *

Royal Dano Royal Edward Dano Sr. (November 16, 1922 - May 15, 1994) was an American actor. In a career spanning 46 years, he was perhaps best known for playing cowboys, villains, and Abraham Lincoln. Dano also provided the voice of the Audio-Animatronic L ...

as Long Tom, a third untrustworthy hire-on *

Frances Bavier Frances Elizabeth Bavier (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American stage and television actress. Originally from New York theatre, she worked in film and television from the 1950s until the 1970s. She is best known for her role o ...

as Mrs. Prentiss *

Frank Ferguson Frank S. Ferguson (December 25, 1906 – September 12, 1978) was an American character actor with hundreds of appearances in both film and television. Background Ferguson was the younger of two children of W. Thomas Ferguson, a native Scottish ...

as Tom Grundy

Production

James Stewart, best known for his down-to-earth persona, established another persona along with director

with the 1950 Western film ''

Winchester '73 ''Winchester '73'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is about the journey of a pr ...

''. This new Stewart persona was more violent, edgier and more disillusioned, but a persona that was still likable. This collaboration included eight films, five of them Westerns. Along with ''Winchester '73'' and ''Bend of the River'', these included ''

The Naked Spur ''The Naked Spur'' is a 1953 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, and Millard Mitchell. Written by Sam Rolfe and Harold Jack Bloom, the film is about a bounty hunter ...

'' (1953), '' The Far Country'' (1954) and ''

The Man From Laramie ''The Man from Laramie'' is a 1955 American Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, and Cathy O'Donnell. Written by Philip Yordan and Frank Burt, the film is about a stranger who defies ...

'' (1955). This was the second of the Western collaborations between them. The film was written by

Borden Chase Borden Chase (January 11, 1900 – March 8, 1971) was an American writer. Career Early jobs Born Frank Fowler, he left school at fourteen went through an assortment of jobs, including driving for gangster Frankie Yale and working as a sandhog ...

, who had co-written ''Winchester '73'' and would write ''The Far Country''. It was based on the 1950 novel ''Bend of the Snake'', by

. In Great Britain in the 1950s, the movie was known under the title ''Where the River Bends''. Under this name the film was given a multi-page review section in F. Maurice Speed's ''The Western Film Annual'' for the 1952 edition of his book. Character actor

was cast as Emerson Cole. Kennedy was confined to shooting riding scenes until his knee healed, after spraining it while filming the fight scene with Jay C. Flippen, who plays Jeremy Baile, the leader of the Baile family.

was cast as Laura while

was cast as her sister Marjie. Adams is best known for her role as Kay Lawrence in the 1954 horror film ''

Creature from the Black Lagoon ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars ...

'' and Nelson played the female lead role in the 1955 sequel ''

Revenge of the Creature ''Revenge of the Creature'' ( ''Return of the Creature'' and ''Return of the Creature from the Black Lagoon'') is the first of two Universal-International sequels to '' Creature from the Black Lagoon''. It was the only 3D film released in 1955 ...

'', which were both directed by Jack Arnold.

played Trey Wilson, a professional gambler. The film was filmed in

, Sandy River and Timberline,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. To promote the film before it was released, a steamboat race on the

Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...

was staged on January 24, 1952, featuring the sternwheeler ''Henderson'' (which had been used in the film, and which had several of the stars on board) versus the newer sternwheeler ''Portland''. The ''Henderson'' won the race.

Reception

The film first released on February 13, 1952. It grossed about $3 million ($ in modern dollars). When first released, the film received poor reviews, but has since then gained more critical acclaim and is recognized as a great Western. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', in its 1952 review said the film "keeps you guessing as to which of its male stars is going to turn out 'good' and which 'bad' and of the cast, the paper's reviewer commented "So it comes down to farmers and miners and Mr. Stewart versus Mr. Kennedy. Both actors are first-rate performers when it comes to slinging guns and giving a general impression of cryptic personalities. Jay C. Flippen is good as the top farmer, Julia Adams and Lori Nelson make svelte farm girls and Rock Hudson is ornamental as a gentleman gambler who strings along. We are sorry to note that Stepin Fetchit is back to play a clownish stereotype, but the scenery is good in Technicolor and the fightin' is frequent and bold." Stewart took a percentage of the profits, the second film on which he had done so, after 1950's ''

'', also a Western directed by Mann. In 1953,

William Goetz William B. Goetz (March 24, 1903 – August 15, 1969) was an American film producer and studio executive. Goetz was one of the founders of Twentieth Century Pictures, and later served as vice president of 20th Century Fox after the merger with ...

estimated that Stewart had earned $750,000 ($ in modern dollars) from the film. The movie holds a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In 2008, ''Bend of the River'' was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Western Films list.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bend Of The River 1952 films 1952 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films directed by Anthony Mann Films shot in Oregon Films set in Oregon Universal Pictures films Films set in 1866 Films based on American novels Films scored by Hans J. Salter Revisionist Western (genre) films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films